Xander Vox
Julius Alexander Vox, 1st Prince of Tycho '''(born '''Gyula Sándor de la Vox; 29 January 3242), is a State Security general officer and the Director of Republic Security since 3281. He has also served as Colonel-in-Chief of the Capital Police since 3271, and formerly served as Director of the Personal Protection Department from 3273 to 3282. While no longer director of the PPD, he retains the position of Personal Guard to Dictator Maximilian, which he has held since 3268. Prior to his appointment as an governmental agency director in 3273, he was a field operative of the Imperial Strategic Intelligence Agency, a Party security officer, and Police enforcer. Regarded by many as roguishly handsome, charismatic, and effective in his work, he gained the personal confidence of then-Emperor Maximilian and earned various political appointments up to and including the directorial command of the Imperial Personal Protective Agency, which was reorganized as the Personal Protection Department in 3275. During his nine-year tenure as director with the rank of Legate, he developed the agency's signature "slim and black" uniform and put in place a number of doctrinal and organizational standards that has made the PPD an effective component of the State Security establishment. In 3281, he was appointed Director of Republic Security, an office he continues to hold. He presides over the expansive political police organization of the Ministry of State Security, the Republic Security Department. As such, he has authority over numerous agencies concerned with political and constitutional crimes, domestic intelligence gathering, and the prison system. His able command of security assets has made him a feared and respected figure in the State Security apparatus, and is considered by the news media to be one of the most powerful figures of the Central Galactic government. Early life Childhood Vox was born Gyula Sándor de la Vox at the Allentown Birth Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania on Earth on January 28, 3242 to Éva Kessar de la Voix, a North American woman of Hungarian and Jewish ancestry. For many years, his father's identity remained unknown and his birth certificate assigned no paternity; it would not be until the 3270s that the identity of Vox's father was determined through genetic testing to be Matthias Rycon, a lesser member of the Rycon dynasty. By age 5, it became apparent from Vox's appearance that he was not the child of Éva's husband, retired Army Colonel Philippe de la Voix, a European of French ethnicity. Vox has speculated in interviews that Éva's contempt for her husband led her to misspell his surname on his birth certificate. Vox later dropped the "de la" part of his name and Anglicized his first and middle names when he turned 16. Vox was raised in Philippe's home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for the first four years of his life, alongside his half-brother, Brian (born 3237), who was the legitimate son of Philippe and Éva. When Vox's appearance, with black curly hair and green eyes that existed in neither Philippe nor Éva's families, he began to suspect the child's paternity and frequently argued with his wife. Vox's first memory, he has stated, is of his parents arguing angrily and becoming violent with each other. Éva and Philippe divorced in 3248, and Vox moved with his mother and brother to Scranton, Pennsylvania. When Vox was 13, Brian departed the household to enlist in the Terran Imperial Army, leaving him alone with his mother. Speculation in the media has periodically accused Éva and her various boyfriends during that time of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of her son, and claimed that she suffered from delusional mental disorders and hallucinations. Vox has gone on record that such "salacious rumors" are "pure fantasy, fabrications by the national media to sell magazines and garner web hits". According to Vox, his mother "was a kind and good woman, who would never have struck her children." Brian, however, has made conflicting statements in interviews, asserting that his mother was emotionally abusive after her divorce, and "she sometimes took her anger out on me, though never on Xander." On 6 July 3258, Vox's mother passed away from what coroners determined to be an untreated encephalitis, which had led her to have multiple seizures per day. Éva Kessar fell from her home's second-story balcony and broke her neck, and seizures prevented her from recovering herself from the fall. Vox was placed in foster care at the Scranton State Orphanarium from 3258 to 3259 and at the Philadelphia State Orphanarium from 3259 to January 3260. Upon reaching the age of majority, he departed foster care and sought his own living. It was during his time that he changed his legal name to Julius Alexander Vox and began to be known by his nickname "Xander". Workers from the Scranton and Philadelphia orphanages have stated that Vox "was a quiet boy, usually stayed away from the other kids. Sometimes they harassed him, but it didn't seem to bother him. It's like he didn't want to be friends with them anyway. He just didn't let it faze him," and that "he never really acted up when they harassed him, except once when a group of about six boys assaulted him after dinner. He broke two boys' arms before we separated them." Education Vox was initially home schooled. After his mother moved to Scranton, he attended Kennedy Elementary School from 3248 to 3254, West Scranton Intermediate School from 3254 to 3257, and the West Scranton High School from 3257 to 3258. He dropped out of public high school after his mother's death at age 16 and took independent study courses online to further his education, obtaining a GED in early 3261. Mercenary After finishing his education and obtaining a diploma-equivalent, Vox began to seek steady, full-time employment. After a period of working part-time and odd jobs, he was hired by Brotherly Security Company, a private security and consulting firm based in Philadelphia, in late 3261. He took online classes from Balboa Technical Institute, studying Justice Administration to further his employment and earning an Associate of Arts degree. He was promoted within the company and travelled around North America on various security jobs. Eventually, he decided to branch out on his own and become an independent contractor, starting in 3263. The going was rather more difficult than he anticipated, so he took up bounty hunting to pay the bills. He became very well known on Earth as a skilled but brutal bounty hunter, capturing fugitives and beating them near to death to apprehend them. His reputation earned him several large-paying security jobs from 3264-3266, which allowed him to book passage off of Earth and seek adventure and fortune across Terran space. His first extrasolar job was as a private paramilitary officer for the Duke of Lorenz, a Terran aristocrat and hereditary governor fighting a civil war against colonialist rebels on an urbanized Outer Colonies world. The Lorenz Conflict was waged from April to July 3266, and it was in this "brushfire war" that Vox proved his skill and ruthlessness in combat. The Duke's appraisal of Vox's skill as the reason for the rebellion's failure bolstered Vox's reputation in the Outer Colonies. He acquired several more contracts, including some from prominent mercenary companies such as Xenon Risk Control, Arcturus Light Horse, the Black Quivers, and Tempest Free Company. He also continued his bounty-hunting work when he could spare the time during jobs on troubled worlds. A crime wave exploded across many urbanized and industrial worlds in the Terran Empire starting in late 3267, and continued through early 3268. It was during this time that Vox became reacquainted with his brother, Brian Kessar, who had also taken private contracting as a mercenary after his stint in the Army. They met while on a job for Tempest in January 3268. Afterwards, they only took jobs together and fought side-by-side in many small conflicts and police actions. In late May 3268, he and Brian acquired a government contract to work as a consultant with an elite special forces unit that had been assigned to domestic anti-terrorist action. When the contract ended, he enlisted to become a field operative of the Imperial Strategic Intelligence Agency and was formally assigned as a semi-permanent member of the unit. Paramilitary career Personal life Summary of paramilitary career Enlisted in the Imperial Strategic Intelligence Agency as a field agent on 3 June 3268. Assigned to 71st Studies and Observations Group 3 June to 20 June 3268. Enlisted in the Capital Police as an enforcer of the law 22 June 3268. Attended Geneva Police Academy from 26 June to 16 July 3268. Commissioned an Officer of the Capital Police 17 July 3268. Assigned to 1st Special Response Team from 20 July to 1 September 3268. Attended Political Training and Leadership Course 3 September 3268 to 4 October 3268. Commissioned an Officer of Imperial Intelligence 5 October 3268. Assigned to Personal Imperial Guard 6 October 3268. Commissioned Chief of the Personal Imperial Guard 12 December 3269. Assigned to 71st Studies and Observations Group 1 October to 3 November 3270. Commissioned an Officer of State Security 3 November 3270. Commissioned Colonel-in-Chief of the Capital Police 6 June 3271. Commissioned a General of State Security 24 December 3273. Commissioned a General of Police 25 December 3273. Dates of Rank Imperial Intelligence *Stormtrooper(E-2) 3 June 3268 *Centurion (O-1) 5 October 3268 *Major (O-4) 3 November 3270 Police Force *Officer (E-1) 22 June 3268 *Watchman (E-2) 16 July 3268 *Lieutenant (O-1) 17 July 3268 *Major (O-4) 12 December 3269 *Colonel (O-6) 6 June 3271 *General of Police (O-10) 25 December 3273. *Associate Chief of Police (O-11) 20 April 3275 *Assistant Chief of Police (O-12) 25 December 3277 *Deputy Chief of Police (O-13) 25 December 3279 *Chief of Police (O-14) 1 January 3281 State Security *Deputy Standardier(O-5) 3 November 3270 *Standardier (O-6) 6 June 3271 *Tribune(O-10) 24 December 3273. *Legate (O-11) 20 April 3275 *Doge(O-12) 25 December 3277 *Praetor (O-13) 25 December 3279 *Exarch (O-14) 1 January 3281 Notable decorations *Knight of the Order of St. Mary of Terra *Knight of the Order of the New Moon *Star of the Iron Cross *Grand Cross of the Iron Cross *Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords *Order of the Star of Terra *Order Pour le Merite *Iron Cross *Intelligence Shield *Distinguished Intelligence Cross *War Merit Cross *Intelligence Star *Civil Service Medal *Distinguished State Honor Award Behind the scenes Xander Vox was developed by Weston Hill as part of a roleplaying game by the Unionverse creative team. The name and appearance of the character were originally created by Hill for a separate, unrelated science fiction short story, and the character was adapted for the Unionverse. He created the character with the concept of a smooth-talking, charismatic manipulator who was capable of brutal violence. The characterization framed Xander as being a sociopath, much like Billy McGrady. However, unlike Billy, Xander never had access to the kind of resources available to the McGradys and he had to become a self-made man. It is reasonable to characterize Xander as resourceful and ruthless, calculating and immensely well-adapted to the cut-throat politics of State Sec. His similarities with Billy are arguably the cause of their vicious rivalry. Both seek to dominate everyone around them, are prone to sadistic acts of violence, and engage in risk-taking promiscuity and aggression behaviours because both are cold-hearted sociopaths. It was ambiguous in gameplay as to whether Xander was actually a sociopath, however. He often acted protectively towards his sensitive older brother, Brian. However, such behaviour contradicts the otherwise spot-on characterization of him as a psychopath that was established though character actions: narcissism, compulsive lying, violent and manipulative thrill-seeking behaviour, and a very blunted affect. Eventually, it was determined that his protectiveness towards Brian stems ultimately from his adept "faking" of social mores and adhering expectations that he stick by his sibling.